Recent Posts

Follow Us

Tag Archives for Barack Obama

America celebrates inclusion. Actually, dissatisfied citizens around the world watched the evidence of unity in diversity in America and join the celebrants in America. Millions of disenfranchised, oppressed or marginalized people, especially women, worldwide who long for a different world of inclusion see the possibility.

Unity in diversity embodies more than skin color; it is a pledge of the acceptance of human dignity. The idea of unity that includes the diversity of humankind, progressive thought and equal opportunity signals inclusion. It recognizes the deepest human longing – fairness.

Goodwill unifies. Equality unifies. Fairness unifies. People in every hamlet, village, town, reservation, or country in the world cry out for fairness. Goodwill does not bend to politics. Goodwill opens the mind to inclusion rather than exclusion because of gender, race, geography or economic status.

Mankind is one. Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, sacrificed much to free the people in her country. Nelson Mandela sacrificed for the freedom of his people in South Africa. Shirin Ebadi of Iran sacrifices for justice in her land. President Obama in the United States of America, another Nobel laureate, believes “We will rise and fall as one nation, and as one people.” These Nobel peace prize laureates and many, many others struggle for fairness for all mankind across the world.

Women deserve dignity. The struggle for dignity extends to a former girl prostitute in India who was forced to sell her body. Sakena Yacoobi in Afghanistan fights to educate girls to fix the country’s severe gender imbalances. Layli Miller-Muro in the United States who protects immigrant women and girls fleeing the violence of genital mutilation champions dignity. These conjoined problems of sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality all over the world depend on restoring women’s dignity. Read Half the Sky

Unity in diversity is vital to the equality, dignity, goodwill and protection of all people.

As we close out 2011 and prepare for making 2012 fantastic, fabulous and focused, let me say thank you for each day and experience of the days in 2011. (NOTE: You don’t want to miss my first post for 2012-Miracle Monday: Where is Your Chi (Energy). Find the source of your energy.)

Thank you 2011!

Thank you, each of you, who raised a roof after a tornado or violent storm. Thank you for being a care giver. Thank you for smiling. Thank you for dancing. Thank you for spending quiet time reflecting. Thank you to all the mentors. Thank you teachers, principals, administration workers, school boards who create learning environments children. Thank you hospital staff, doctors, nurses, technicians, attendants, aides, cleaners who keep us well. Thank you government leaders, assistants, community advocates, courtroom judges, stenographers, attorneys, legal aides who protect the constitution. Thank you military personnel, military families, officials, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, department heads, Chiefs of Staff who defend our nation.

Thank You 2011

Thank you women, children and men to stood up for justice. Thank you every volunteer who fed the hungry. Thank you Junior LeagueAtlanta for being a force of women leaders who rock babies, read to children, create art at Ronald McDonald House, expose sex trafficking and exploitation of girls, read for the blind on GARRS radio, beautify shelters, create meals for Kids in the Kitchen, who share your hearts everywhere. Thank you friends and family who gave with agape love. Thank you radio and television hosts who uplift hearts and souls. Thank you counselors who give without recognition. Thank you therapist who help mend. Thank you artists for sharing perspectives of beauty.

Thank you earth for supplying our needs. Thank you farmers who grow crops. Thank you pets for trusting with your hearts. Thank you elders who give wisdom and grace. Thank you mothers and fathers for protecting the treasure of life that you created. Thank you sisters and brothers who bring out the best in each others. Thank you 2011!

I have chosen different inspirational quotes over the years to motivate me when fear creeps into my mind. I have used sayings such as “I am a child of a rich Father; I deserve the best for it is my right.” (quoted in the forward of my book, Climb Every Obstacle: Eliminate Your Limits) or “Life is too short to wear tight shoes” (the title of a book written by Barbara Faison), “Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed” or “When a man turns his face to God he finds sunshine everywhere.”

These few quotations have been the mainstay of my success. But, I still collect quotes and use them for inner inspiration for me and others I interact with. Words give me life. That is why I want to share just one word with you today:PERSEVERANCE

per⋅se⋅ver⋅ance
/ˌpɜrsəˈvɪərəns/ [pur-suh-veer-uhns]
–noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

This definition, taken from dictionary.com, directly serves the appropriate purpose for my intent.

Today, I have three requests for you:
1. I want you to read and re-read the definition.
2. I want you to write perseverance down and include the definition on a note card or other piece of paper.
3. I want you to internalize this one word, perseverance, into your inner mind and use it as a mega motivator.

Barack Obama became perseverance. How else could he surmount unfathomable odds, succeed as an underdog, without perseverance in his mind every day on the campaign trail before becoming the 44th President of the United States of America?

I posit that Mr. Obama defied naysayers and persevered with formidable belief each time he stepped off the airplane or bus. I believe that President-elect Obama understood perseverance each time he left his wife and children at home in the pursuit of the White House. My soul tells me that Barack Obama inculcated perseverance each time that he stepped onto the platform to debate or give a speech.

How else could have Lance Armstrong or Serena Williams or wounded men and women in the military come back home to the United States and learn how to walk, talk or survive again without perseverance? This personal will to improve and change precipitated the growth that each winner enjoys.

You too can escalate your “Yes, I Can” beliefs by adding just one word to your intent: perseverance.

When you feel tired, persevere.
When you feel oppressed, persevere.
When you feel unwelcome, persevere.
When you feel unsure, persevere.
When you feel powerless, persevere.

Do not pause or stop until you can get there (wherever your end point is). Don’t relinquish your dreams. Don’t dampen your spirit or the zeal of anyone else. Instead persevere and meet your just, planned end.

Can you do that?
Yes, you can. Of course, you can.

Share your stories of success with us.

Send a note telling us about your end point-I will send you a FREE copy of For the BEST of You